This invention pertains to animal traps of the type having two jaws forced together by a spring or springs, and more particularly to a trap of that type having a mechanism both more efficient and more humane.
A type of animal traps called "leg traps" has been in use for a long time. These traps generally include a pair of generally "D" shaped jaws pressed together by one or more spring-loaded levers. The trap uses a trigger set to be sprung by the foot of an animal stepping onto the trigger between the jaws which are held open by the trigger mechanism. These traps are usually held in place against the pulling of a trapped animal by means of a chain usually attached to the trap a position remote from the jaws, or at least at one edge of the trap.
Traps of this general type have often been called inhumane principally because of the results of their use. For example, animals sometimes escaped the traps and left behind portions of the leg that was caught. This was the result of a broken leg which then could be gnawed or wrenched off by the animal. The result was a wild animal without the necessary physical attributes to hunt and capture its food in the wild.
The cause of the broken leg in instances such as that described was usually either that the trap jaws had held at a point so high on the leg that there was enough leverage on that leg that the animal by its tugging could break the bone, or the off-center connection of the chain to the trap caused the trap to twist the leg as the animal tugged away with the result of a broken bone.
With my improved trap, I provide a center connected swiveling attachment for my trap. The result is that a tugging animal pulls directly on a straight line against the holding chain and there is no twisting nor bending moment tending to bend or twist and break the animal's leg. I also provide in my unique trigger mechanism a device which tends to push back somewhat on the foot of any animal stepping on the trigger. This results in a caught foot rather than a leg and therefore is less leverage on the longer bone in the foot. In spite of the central connection of the chain to the trap, I provide by means of my unique construction for a perfectly flat base of the trap so that it can be set on a flat surface and not rock or tilt. This construction is accomplished both by the way the chain is attached to the trap and by the mounting of the trigger and seer mechanism .